The Loudoun County boys (84 pts) and John Handley girls (56 pts) were team champions at the Region II Meet on Wednesday at Tuscarora High School in Leesburg. Steven Graham in the sprints and Patrick Joseph in the distance races led the Loudoun County boys with Graham winning individual titles in the 100 (11.00), 400 (48.28), and 200 (22.89), while Joseph doubled with victories in the 1600 (4:15.82) and 800 (1:54.98). After never breaking 40 seconds before in the 300 meter hurdles, Loudoun County senior Teddy Murphy not only broke 40 at the Region II Meet but made a run after a 38 second flat time with a state best FAT performance of 38.44. Murphy was also runner-up in the 100 meter hurdles as he traded wins with Heritage's Marcus Finney in the two hurdle races.
Verna Hilaire-Lee and Britani Myers helped the John Handley girls hold off the Louisa County girls and impressive meet from Louisa's Javanique Burruss. Burruss notched 3 regional titles between the long jump and triple jump with marks of 18'11.75" and 37'5" clocking along with a swift 14.73 clocking in the 100 meter hurdles. Verna Hilaire-Lee and Myers teamed up together for the first place 4x100 meter relay from John Handley, while Hilaire ruled the sprints with the fastest times in the 100 (12.18) and 200 (25.09), while the 500 indoor state champ Myers won a competitive 400 meter dash in 57.27. Another strong individual performance from Handley girls came from sophomore Lisa Meneau posting a performance of 44.04 in a 300 meter hurdles victory.
Millbrook's Crystal Nelson, a likely favorite in the Group AA state meet at 3200 meters, tuned up for next weekend with a 1600 and 800 double at the regional meet. She won the 1600 in 5:03 and came back to run a personal best time of 2:15.30 to finish second in a great battle with Woodgrove's Audrey Houghton (2:15.04). Fauquier's Grant Holmes and Fluvanna's Chance Parmly will be duking it out again at Harrisonburg next Saturday for the state title in the pole vault. Parmly is the returning state champ, but Holmes right now is the top performer including a recent 14'6" clearance over Parmly at the regional meet.